


The Kids Don't Stand a Chance

by Raikcaa



Series: The Kids [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Angst, Ben Hargreeves Needs A Hug, Ben Hargreeves is Alive, Blood and Gore, Death, Family Feels, Hurt/Comfort, Its ben centric guys, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Time Travel, Torture, Whump, siblings act like a real family
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2019-12-26 22:38:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18291647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Raikcaa/pseuds/Raikcaa
Summary: The Umbrella Academy kids are 13 again. They have to try to deal with their Father while becoming a real family again and help Vanya with her own powers. However, no one expected Ben to come back from death and be this rebellious.Its a Ben centered fanfic jumping off of the end of season one!





	1. Time in a Tree

**Author's Note:**

> Ben Hargreeves is my favorite character if you can't tell.

The first thing Ben felt was the touch of his skin against a soft blanket and pillow. He nearly forgot how to breathe. The next thing he felt was air filling his lungs. Ben had to teach himself how to breathe again, he was hyperventilating before he remembered how to live. 

Ben wasn’t used to feeling again, the weight of his body on his own bed seemed unnatural. It was different, it was new again. Parts of life people took for granted like feeling, Ben had forgotten about, the simplicity of touch is something Ben forgot he missed. Ben forgot how loud the creaking wood of the hallway was. The old house made noise and Ben had missed hearing it. 

Ben started to overwhelm himself with his own thoughts, his memories, he was overstimulated by these new senses. Ben didn’t notice the tears down his face, he wasn’t sad though. He was happy to be alive. 

After a while passed Ben wanted to stand. He almost fell as soon as the wood touched his feet. His knees started to buckle but before he fell he leaned against his bed. Ben forgot how much gravity sucked.

Once Ben was stable he walked to the small mirror next to his closet. His face was rounder and his height shorter. He traded his hoodie for the dumb matching pajamas Father made them wear. He was 13 again. The time travel must have worked. 

Ben had to find Klaus, then he could prove to himself, if he was truly alive.

\----

Klaus was shocked. They landed on the roof of the mansion after falling through a blue thunderstorm. Every other sibling was dazed and groaned as they got up. Klaus starred at everyone, they were like Five, they were 13 again.

Klaus remembered the family sensation that was time travel, his siblings weren’t used to it though. Five was unconscious, probably from overworking his power, and little Vanya was unconscious just as she was before the travel.

Diego was next to him grumbling and holding his head, there was a small bit of blood dripping from his forehead. Allison was stumbling up to her feet, dusting herself off. Luther was staring at his arms and body. 

“D-did we just t-t-time travel?” Diego stuttered. 

“Yeah,” Klaus said blankly, “the nausea will go away, eventually." Klaus groaned. No the time travel wasn’t causing the nausea. He was in a body that had only gotten ahold of weed.

“Vanya!” Allison said realizing that Vanya was still unconscious, “Oh no! What if she’s hurt?” 

“I broke her fall she’s fine,” Luther grumbled, “More importantly what if she still has those white eyes." 

“She would have been fine if you hadn’t attacked Luther!” Allison said angrily as she moved to hold Vanya’s head in her lap. 

“F-Five’s u-u-uncon-unconscious too,” Diego had his awful stutter back, “Guess it was t-too m-much." 

Klaus nodded in agreement then looked frantically around. His ghost brother was gone, Ben didn’t come with them. Klaus needed Ben, he needed Ben to make sure he wasn’t stupid.

“Klaus?” Diego asked trying to get his attention, “Klaus! Hey Klaus!” A wide eyed Klaus looked at Diego, “Y-you okay?”

“Ben,” Klaus sighed, “Ben didn’t travel with us…” He would miss Ben standing over him, trying to convince him to be sober.

“Klaus,” Luther started then looked at Allison who nodded, “Um. Sorry, sorry for not believing you about him." Klaus was shocked, he never thought that Luther of all people would apologize to him.

“Yeah,” Allison agreed, “We should have believed you. I guess we just didn’t really want him to be dead." 

“Was he there?” Diego asked mournfully, “W-was he t-th-there with you? The w-whole time?!” 

“Yes,” Klaus said with a laugh, “He criticized you all! Ha- death made him really sarcastic and shit." 

Five groaned and sat up. He rubbed his eyes and looked around, “It worked!” Five started laughing, “We’re 13 again!” Diego helped Five to his feet.

“Does this mean Dad’s alive?” Of course Luther was the one to ask, “If he finds us-”

“We act normal,” Five cut him off, “We act like we did when we were 13, Dad will think everything's find. I won’t bother him about time travel and we downplay our powers. If we are suddenly stronger than our 13 year old selves, Dad will think some things up. For now we go to bed and act like nothing happened in the morning."

“We should be a family this time,” Allison spoke looking at Vanya, “We take care of Vanya this time. We take care of each other this time. We act like we’re a family. We protect each other."

“Allison’s right,” Diego said, “W-we be r-r-real s-siblings." It was about time they acted like a family. 

Luther held Vanya in his arms. The rest of the siblings followed stealthily towards the stairs and their rooms. 

\----

They had made it down a flight, now they only had to get passed another hallway with no one noticing. Diego snuck forward first, he held his breath and shuffled down the corridor. Diego stopped in his tracks when he saw a small figure slowly closing a door in the hallway. 

Klaus stepped forward and quietly called out, “Ben! There you are!” 

“Klaus?!” Ben slowly moved forward, “I think the time travel-” 

“Ben?” Allison’s soft voice called.

“They can see me?!” Ben saw his sibling’s faces, they were staring at him, “Klaus…” 

Diego rushed forward and hugged Ben. Allison, Klaus and Five followed after. Luther, with Vanya in his arms, came next and they embraced in one big hug. 

“Let’s go before Dad finds us,” Five whispered, “I’ll stay with Vanya.” 

“Meet in my room after breakfast.” Allison whispered back.

They all retreated back into their own rooms, except Ben. Ben followed Klaus into his room, he figured that neither Klaus nor himself could sleep alone. Ben snuck out and back to his own room before morning.


	2. The Kids Aren't Alright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything falls back into the places they remembered as children.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #Benismyfavoritecharacter:featuringKlaus

Diego was the last to enter Allison’s room. Even Vanya was there, although she was still sleeping. Allison and Five were debating the best way to keep Vanya out of Father’s sight until she was awake. Klaus was sitting on a table next to Ben, who looked exhausted. Luther was pacing around the room thinking. 

They only got maybe 5 hours of sleep, normally they got around 10 hours of sleep. 

“G-Good-morning." Diego said as he sat near Allison’s desk. Diego really had to work on his stutter, it was humiliating. 

“We don’t have much time to talk,” Five started, “Breakfast is soon.”

“We act normal then?” Luther asked, “Like we don’t have a sister that just caused the apocalypse?” Like her own brother didn't just lock her up because he was scared? Ben almost said that.

“We convince her to not take her pills,” Allison said, “Or at least take less of them. We also need to train her to control it but we need to do that in secret.” 

“Do we just act normal at breakfast?” Diego asked with a hint of doubt in his voice.

“I’m not sure I can,” Ben quickly said looking at his feet, “So much has boiled up. So much I have wanted to say- wanted to scream at his face, I’m not sure I can face him without losing my own control.” Ben hasn't been able to say anything to anyone except for Klaus and he really wanted to.

“Yeah,” Klaus muttered, “What he said.” Ben could tell Klaus was missing his old drug habits.

“We get through breakfast,” Five said with confidence, “Then we get through training. We handle things as they come and we help each other. We heal each other and we be real siblings, especially to Vanya.” 

“Huh?” Vanya whispered quietly. Her eyes fluttered open and she yawned. Everyone was staring at her. “Where are we?” Her hands started shaking as she remembered the events she saw last.

“Vanya!” Allison hugged her sister, “It’s okay. We’re okay! Five time traveled us back and everything will be better now.” Allison sounded hopeful. For the first time in a long time someone sounded hopeful and it was fulfilling.

“I-I” tears started to trickle down Vanya’s face, “What did I do!? I-I’m so sorry. Allison I’m so sorry.” Allison held Vanya tighter and whispered softly, “I forgive you Vanya. Everything’s okay.”

“But I...” Vanya started but trailed off as she looked past Allison, “Ben!” 

Ben moved to the bed and joined the hug, “Hi Vanya, I missed you.” Vanya gave very nice hugs, Ben missed them so much.

The sweet moment was cut short by Mom’s voice calling them down for breakfast.

\----

They waited in silence as Father told them to sit. They sat and ate in silence. Nervous glances were cast around the room. Under the table Ben nudged Vanya’s foot and gave her a small smile. He or Five used to do that when Vanya was upset or nervous during meal time. 

Ben didn’t eat much. Eating food after such a long time of hungerless death seemed to give his stomach a weird feeling. Food was weird and Ben wasn’t used to it yet. He’d have to be patient in remembering how to live. Being dead for so long gave him habits he would have to get rid of, sitting in random places for example.

The siblings were all dismissed for an hour after breakfast, then they would have two hours of studying followed by lunch. After lunch it was time for individual training and today was a Thursday. That meant it was Klaus’s training time and Ben was not eager for that. Ben knew what went on with Klaus's training. Ben had heard the nightmares.

While the rest of the siblings slipped into Allison’s large room, Ben veered off and headed into the bathroom, hopefully unnoticed. His stomach hurt. Before he made his way to spit up his food in the toilet he saw himself in the bathroom mirror. His eyes were black- there was no white in his eyes. He blinked again and they were normal.

Ben groaned and kneeled on the bathroom floor to spit up what little he ate. He was trying to be as quiet as one possibly could in his situation. He didn’t want his sisters or brothers to see him like this, especially after years of not seeing him. Ben hated being seen as weak almost as much as he hated being vulnerable. Unfortunately someone noticed him. 

Klaus slowly opened the bathroom door and saw his brother trembling next to the toilet. Klaus didn’t say anything but sat next to Ben and gave him a sympathetic glance. 

“Shut up,” Ben muttered under his breath while wrapping his own arms around his body. 

“Is it your stomach?” Klaus whispered, Ben nodded. Klaus didn’t need an explanation, after Ben’s death Klaus started to understand him. Ben once yelled at Klaus for an hour about how shitty his power was. Klaus put a hand on Ben’s shoulder and just held it there in comfort. They sat there for a few minutes, Ben had stopped throwing his food up and Klaus had gave him a glass of water. Klaus helped Ben to his feet and they made their way to Allison’s room.

\----

Ben sat on the floor next to Klaus as the siblings talked and talked. He stopped listening after a while. Luther and Diego were debating Allison and Five about the unpredictability of Vanya’s power and if she should continue to take the little pills while she sat near Diego looking uncomfortable.

“She’s unpredictable!” Luther said loudly and annoyed, “Until we figure something out she should keep taking her pills.” Luther always thought he was right and that annoyed Ben. 

“Remember when Luther kept breaking everything during growth spurts?” Ben said loudly not paying attention to whatever Five was rambling about. Oops. Ben forgot that people could hear him, the rest of his siblings stared at him while Klaus chuckled. Ben needed to remember that people could hear him.

“I forgot to tell you guys how snarkier death made Ben,” Klaus said with a light hearted laugh, “Guess there were some things he’s always wanted to say!” Klaus was right but Ben wasn’t going to say anything. Ben had watched his family be total idiots but calling them out on it wouldn’t help anyone, despite how much he wanted to.

“Sorry.” Ben muttered as a small attempt to apologize to Luther, he wasn’t really sorry. 

The rest of the conversation Ben tuned out. They came to the decision that Vanya was slowly ease off the meds until she could control her abilities without losing herself in her powers. In the meantime the siblings would act like decent children and even better friends to each other. They would be obedient, for now.

Ben didn’t agree with their ultimate conclusion. He didn’t want to act like an obedient child anymore. Ben felt more emotions than he could in like 13 years. Maybe it was him fueling his anger but Ben didn’t look pass the possibility that They were trying to rile him up. The monsters that hid in his stomach and messed with his head had a habit of screwing with Ben's emotions. Ben didn’t argue against it though, he would follow someone else’s lead.

\---- 

The siblings continued their studies in whatever Father wanted them to work on. They ate lunch peacefully but Ben gave Klaus nervous glances from time to time. Ben knew what would happen next and he was dreading the anticipation. 

Once the meal ended everyone was excused, except Klaus. Ben silently watched as Father led Klaus out of the house. His stomach churned with anger. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is very nice!!! The next few chapters will be more interesting!


	3. Warrior

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben does something unexpectedly stupid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next few chapters are pretty intense!

Ben couldn’t focus on school work. Ben was filled with worry, he was worried about what hell Klaus was going through. The anger inside him fueled the monsters inside him, he had to control himself but these math problems did not help. 

After an hour of anxious waiting Ben had enough. Ben couldn’t get into the mausoleum but someone else could and that person was Five. Ben tried to approach Five but he got distracted by Pogo. Pogo kept talking about these textbooks that he suggested that Ben read next. Pogo even made Ben get those books and start reading them.

Ben did admit that these books were interesting but his anxiety was eating him up. His hands kept trembling and his leg kept bouncing like he wanted to run away. No one noticed his strange mannerism. Pogo unintentionally kept Ben distracted until their break time. They had an hour break before dinner.

Ben ran into Vanya before he checked Klaus’s room. He told Vanya to gather the others and meet him on the roof. Ben quickly made his way to Klaus’s room but his heart dropped when he saw no one there. This meant the individual training would last the whole night. 

\----

Ben paced around on the roof as everyone eventually made their ways up there, minus Klaus. Diego was last to come in. 

“So Ben,” Luther started like the leader he wanted to be, “What’s up?”

“Klaus has individual training today.” Ben said hoping no one would notice how anxious he sounded.

“We all get individual training,” Five sighed like he thought this was a waste of time, “Mine’s tomorrow and yours is Saturday.”

“Yeah,” Diego said agreeing, “Is this really meeting worthy?”

Ben could not believe what he was hearing, “Are you all serious?!” Okay maybe he sounded angrier then he wanted to. The thought hit Ben quickly, they didn’t know, “Did Klaus never tell you?” 

“He never mentioned individual training,” Allison answered quietly, “I don’t think anyone told anyone about their own training and no one ever asked.”

“He got locked in a mausoleum,” Ben said sadly, “The ghosts would hurt him. They would scream at him. They would try to scratch at him and hurt him. Klaus didn’t tell me much but all those nights in the mausoleum drove him to drugs. It must have been bad, he got nightmares and anxiety attacks from it.” Everyone looked shocked. They didn’t realize how much Klaus was hurt by their Father.

A moment of silence passed then Diego spoke up silently, “D-Dad used to, um, u-used to make m-me- no no. Dad c-chained me to the b-bottom of a pool. He w-wanted to s-see how long I could hold m-my breath. W-went on f-f-four hours.”

“I thought my training was rough but I probably had it easiest,” Luther said looking at his hands, “Dad used to see how much weight I could withstand. One time he drove a car onto me.” 

“You were always sore after training,” Vanya’s soft voice spoke next, “I suddenly feel lucky now.”

“We shouldn’t compare our different training to each other, it’s-” Allison was cut off by Five.

“No,” Five’s confidence wavered as he remembered what he went through, “We need to talk about how much we were hurt. If we know what happened to us… we can help each other. Father probably wanted us to never talk about and avoid the subject so we’d never be close.”

“I talked until my voice hurt,” Allison said as she touched her throat, “I was lucky. I wasn’t hurt as bad as some of you but it still sucked.”

“Teleported long distances with heavy things,” Five said quickly looking uncomfortable. 

“What about you Ben?” Vanya asked next, Ben was the only one who didn’t say anything. 

“I... “ Ben trailed off debating what to say, “I’m not sure.” That was a total lie, “I couldn’t remember everything after I died, some memories I just completely blocked off. I’m sure it wasn’t bad though,” another lie, “I complied with every order and I’m sure that was the same in training.” Ben had gotten better at lying after death, he hoped they were convinced.

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Luther sighed, “You’ll have your own training Saturday.” 

“I remember you being exhausted,” Vanya spoke staring at Ben like she was knew he was lying and he hoped that she didn’t, “You cried yourself to sleep, especially after your training. You were tired all day Sunday.”

“I always cried.” Ben said defensively. Ben did not want to remember what he went through. He never told Klaus despite the times that Klaus cried and told him what had happened in that mausoleum. 

“Okay so,” Luther broke the silence again, “Five can teleport to Klaus and stay with him until someone gets him out in the morning. After dinner of course.” 

“You’ll need to cover for me,” Five said, “I’ll go straight to the mausoleum after dinner.”

“I can cover for you,” Allison offered, “It will be easy.” Five nodded as a thanks. 

“Di-dinner,” Diego stumbled on his words and took a minute to breathe, “Dinner is soon. W-we should go.” 

The siblings made their way downstairs and waited for Mom to call them to eat. Ben checked Klaus’s room one last time. He sat on the floor near Klaus’s bed- he used to do this when he was a ghost. Ben waited here until Mom called them down and just thought. 

\----

Klaus wasn’t at dinner. Ben still couldn't wait. He was filled with anxious feelings that slowly ate up at him. The small nudges from Vanya or Five helped but Ben kept staring at his plate. Father didn’t comment on his lack of an appetite, he must have not noticed but Ben realized a few of his siblings did. 

They were excused from Dinner to finish some studying then sent to bed. Five had teleported away as soon as he got out of the room. Hopefully Five could help Klaus but Ben wished it could have been him. 

Waiting and waiting didn’t sit well with Ben. He knew his other siblings weren’t going to act. They were scared and tired. Ben’s anger grew. Ben had to do something. He heard his siblings talk about the hell they all went through. Ben was furious.

Ben found himself staring at the big doors that hid his Father’s study. He didn’t think of a plan but he was going to do something. Ben gathered the courage to knock on the large doors. He waited for a minute then knocked again just a little harder. Ben heard a grunt and opened the doors.

Father was there sitting at his desk waiting, he didn’t even look up. Ben just stared at his father and thought about how stupid he was for doing this. “Well?” Ben almost didn’t hear his Father’s voice reach him. 

“I have a question,” Ben’s voice was feeble and small, “I wanted to ask you something.” 

“Ask boy.” Father’s voice was cold, commanding and stern. Ben thought about Klaus. Ben let the anger swell up. 

“Stop.” Ben’s voice wavered with emotion, he was so ready to burst in tears or scream in anger but he didn’t, “Stop locking Klaus in the mausoleum.” 

His father scoffed and went back to whatever he was reading. Ben’s anger grew when his Father ignored him again. They happened. Ben hadn’t used his power in so long but everything just rushed out at him. Ben didn’t even wince at the pain of these tentacles moving out of his stomach. Ben let them surround his father. 

“I could kill you,” Ben’s voice no longer trembled but instead had a quiet rage, “No one could stop me from killing you. I wouldn’t stop me.” Ben had waited for this for so long. His built up anger had been ready to explode. 

Father looked up from his seat, he didn’t give any indication of nervousness but Ben could feel it. “I could give you the most painful death and no one would give a damn.” Ben felt powerful. Ben could taste blood in his mouth. 

“You won’t,” Father’s voice said with a false confidence, “Go back to bed Number Six.”

“My name is Ben.” Ben growled as he stepped forward and let his tentacles inch forward. 

“Kill me now Number Six,” Father opened a drawer, “And this whole mansion will fill up with poison.” 

“You’d die before you’d kill me.” Ben growled louder. He felt blood dripping down from the edge of his lip. The tentacles started to surround his Father. Ben wasn’t afraid of death. 

“Your siblings would die.” Father was trying to negotiate or something. 

“They could get out in time.” Ben said with a confidence he had never felt before. 

“I’ll make you a deal.” Father finally took Ben seriously, “I won’t lock Number Four up in a mausoleum.” 

“No more individual training.” Ben felt the strongest he had ever been. 

“You and your siblings will get training,” Father commanded, “Number Four won’t be locked up anymore.” Ben didn’t say anything. “You cannot have them out all night Number Six. Your getting tired.” Father knew how much Ben could have his tentacles out for without losing absolute control. Despite the feeling of power and confidence, Ben couldn't keep doing this for long.

“If you lock him up again,” Father was right Ben was getting tired, “I will kill you.” Ben backed out of the room and slammed the doors closed. His tentacles returned to him as he wiped the blood from his mouth. 

At least Ben won a small victory for Klaus. He knew his Father would punish him for this one way or another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is always very much appreciated! Season two was confirmed and Ben was upgraded to a main character! I'm so excited!!!


	4. What's Up Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids are sent on the first mission since they came back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This and the next chapter were going to be one whole chapter but it got too long so now its a little short.

Ben stayed awake until he heard Klaus’s door slam. After that Ben had a decent sleep, barely waking up in time for breakfast. He quickly got ready for breakfast and was the last of the siblings to join the dining room. Klaus looked shaken up. 

Father came in a minute later, he didn’t meet Ben’s stare. They ate in quiet. Ben sent his Father glares from time to time, just as a warning or even reminder. No one else picked up on this. Ben and the other siblings made sure Klaus was okay, whether the brush of an elbow or the subtle nod in his direction. Ben ate more than last meal but still not much. 

They started their school work for about 30 minutes before a ringing noise echoed in the large mansion. There was a mission. 

Ben ran up to his room to change, he didn’t want to get yelled at for being late. Hopefully Ben wouldn’t have to use his powers, he really didn’t want to. Surprisingly he was the first one waiting and ready to go. Luther and Five came next then Klaus followed by Allison. They had to leave Vanya at the mansion with Grace and Pogo but she was happy to practice her violin. 

The mission was simple in theory, a hostage situation in a museum. There were roughly 15 robbers and roughly 50 hostages. 5 of the robbers were guarding the hostages- those would be taken out by Luther, Five and Allison. Diego would roam the building for any hidden hostages while Klaus would on look out in the security room. Ben would find the last 10 robbers who would be stealing priceless artifacts, and kill them. 

Simple huh. Of course Ben was stuck with the duty of killing people, he was the Hargreeves’ one man army. Needless to say, he wasn’t excited no he dreaded this. 

It was easy to infiltrate, compared to other missions. Five teleported Luther in quickly then Luther broke open a window for everyone else to climb in. Klaus scurried off with Diego to the security room while Five, Luther and Allison ran towards the hostages. Ben was left alone.

Ben made his way to where he assumed the artifacts were kept. There was a long corridor leading to a set of big black doors where he heard noise coming from. Ben quietly made his way through. He slowly opened the door and quietly shut it. The noise was getting louder, the robbers must have been further back.

Ben shuffled along the side of the room hiding around crates and boxes. Once he found the people he peered out and counted 9 of them. Hopefully Father got the report wrong and only 14 people were robbing this place.

Ben took a breath. He stepped out from his hiding place and summoned his tentacles. 

“How the fuck-” The man’s voice was cut by a scream, the man’s body and gun fell to the floor. One down. It went by quickly. 

There was gunfire and screams. Soon two more were dead. Blood was splattered on the wall. Bodies started to drop to the floor.

Another two were dead and bleeding out. The more people he killed the faster and faster. The men tried to hide from him and fire their guns from a safer distance but Ben’s wraith found them. Another one died, then another and another.

Soon enough Ben was covered in blood. The room was littered with gun shells, blood and bodies. 

Satisfied with their job the tentacles returned to the dimension under Ben’s skin. Ben took a deep breathe, he had to remember how to breath again. Ben was so exhausted.

*BANG* There was a loud noise that Ben couldn’t recognize but as soon as he heard it he felt pain in his shoulder. He reached for his shoulder and felt warm blood.

Before Ben could turn around he heard another *BANG* and pain started to pulse from his abdomen, a small cry escaped his lips. He made out a figure with a pistol before another- 

*BANG* Ben’s leg gave out as he fell to his knees. Ben collapsed gasping for air, he was choking on blood. Ben felt the warmth of his own blood seeping out of him. His vision was shaky, he couldn’t breath. He felt like he was suffocating. 

Then he remembered. He saw darkness and remembered the taste of death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger!!! Feedback is very appreciated.


	5. Conqueror

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben?! You okay!?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is probably going to get a lot more dark and whumpy in the next chapter so heres that warning!

Ben felt pebbles and dirt underneath his body. He saw tree’s painted in a monochromatic sky. It took a minute for him to stand but he did. Ben looked older, his hoodie returned, he looked like the ghost that haunted Klaus. Ben was dead. 

Ben almost laughed. It seems he was fated to die young. Maybe now his siblings would believe Klaus. A pitiful laugh escaped Ben’s lips. 

“Why are you laughing?” the voice came from a little girl on a bicycle who wore a pretty hat. 

“I,” Ben didn’t know, “Don’t know.” The little girl looked amused.

“You wanted to die.” The little girl rolled her eyes. 

“The first time I did,” Ben said remorsefully remembering his first death, “This time I didn’t plan it.” 

“You never talked to me the first time,” The little girl said while twisting a loc of her hair, “You wanted to stay with Klaus and watch over his scrawny ass.” Ben nodded. “Too bad,” The little girl sighed, “Your soul isn’t mine.” 

“You’re God,” Ben figured it out, “What if I was Buddhist or atheist?” 

God sighed again, “You’d see whatever deity you worshiped or just darkness.” She scoffed, “It’d be me one way or the other. This is pointless.” 

“Who does my soul belong to?” God’s face lit up like Ben finally asked an interesting question.

God pointed at his stomach, “Them. You know your body has another dimension in it right?” Ben looked confused, “Ugh. The monsters that you summon are from another dimension. Your body acts as a portal between dimensions. Hypothetically you could access multiple dimensions. Those monsters, they are eldritch beings as old as me. They are your patron, the source of your soul and power.” 

“So I am the host of eldritch beings?” Ben asked trying to clarify whatever he was hearing. 

“Yep.” God answered in a annoyed tone, “You’re not ready to die. I don’t want you here and they don’t want you here. I’m sending you back to make them happy. But first you have to make a stop.”

“Stop?” Ben asked but was hushed by God as she raised her hand twirled her finger and the world spun and flew past Ben. 

Ben blinked. He was somewhere new. He stood on water- maybe a lake or even the ocean. The water rippled below him. The sky was reflected off of the water surface. Ben looked up and saw thousands of stars sprinkled throughout the sky. There was flashes of gold and silver on a predominately dark purple sky. There were red clouds. A mountain range filled with silver rocks surrounded him. Three yellow moons peeked from the horizon line. It was beautiful. 

Ben stared back into the water and saw a school of silver fish circling him. The fish suddenly started to move north. Ben followed. He walked on the surface of the ocean following the fish. At times the fish jumped out of the water as he followed. They led him to a rock peeking out of the water.

Just as Ben was about to step on the rock an orange tabby cat with purple eyes apparated on the rock. 

“Welcome,” Ben heard a voice inside his head. It wasn’t English but Ben could understand it. 

“Hello?” Ben spoke back in the same strange tongue, “Who, um. Who are you?” 

“We are connected,” The voice echoed in his head again, “We are your Patrons. We are your friend.” The cat licked its nose, it was adorable.

“The eldritch beings God told me about?” Ben guessed. 

“Yes,” The cat smiled, “Understand us and we will understand you.” 

“How can I trust you?” The cat looked surprised, “You’ve hurt me before!” 

“We hurt because you don’t listen,” The echoing voice hissed, “We will not hurt but you must listen. We will obey if you understand.” 

“I won’t be controlled.” Ben said with the confidence he had the day before he died.

“We won’t control you,” The voice said almost softly, “We ask for you to understand.”

“I-” He was cut off my the voice, “You must live now. Be strong little one.” The cat flicked its tail and Ben saw the bright ceiling lights. 

\----

Not a moment passed from when the bullets riddled his skin. Ben awoke with a heavy breath and screamed. A sudden burst of energy filled Ben’s body and the tentacles returned and quickly smeared the wall with the 10th robber’s blood. They returned to Ben who was left to lay in a puddle of his own blood. 

Pain was something that Ben wasn’t used to. He thought that getting shot was supposed to hurt much more. Ben laid there for a good minute- he was overwhelmed with the feelings of living for the 2nd time.

Ben sat up and felt his wounds- or where the wounds should be but they were gone. Ben had been healed? That was strange but Ben wasn’t going to complain, he was still sore and exhausted though. He stood up and walked towards the big black doors using the various crates as support. 

Ben barely had enough strength to open the doors. He had to lean on the wall walking back to his siblings, he almost tripped over himself several times. Ben ended up sitting near a dinosaur exhibit almost falling asleep. The only thing that kept him awake was someone shouting his name. 

Ben almost thought he was dreaming again but the voice kept getting louder.

It was Diego. Diego found him covered in blood lying next to some sort of dinosaur. Diego shook him awake. Ben heard words and saw Diego’s mouth move but couldn’t put them together, he was exhausted. He felt his weight changed as Diego pulled him up and helped him to his feet. Diego threw Ben’s arm around his shoulder and helped him walk back to the rest of the kids. 

\----

The car ride was silent, no one asked him what happened. They all could guess, after all Ben was covered in blood, they just didn’t know the blood was his.

The children were excused for the rest of the day, Five still had training but he would be let out earlier. Ben hid in the bathroom when they got back to the mansion. He was usually allowed to use the bath first after missions anyway. 

As he waited for the bath to fill with hot water he checked his body in the mirror. He was smaller than his siblings, his ribs were starting to stick out- maybe he should eat more during his meals. He checked where the bullets entered his body. There was no wound to be seen. Where the bullet hole should have been on his shoulder there was a small scar, same with his leg and abdomen. 

His other scars were still there. His back had quite a lot from training and his stomach had a 

Ben nearly fell asleep in the bathtub. It wasn’t comfortable but his exhaustion was stronger than his will to be comfortable. He slowly washed the blood off himself. Some of it was his… most of it wasn’t. 

Ben left the bath with a ring of red. He didn’t bother cleaning it. Ben changed into clean clothing and sat on his bed for a few minutes. He kept thinking about his powers. The only explanation he could come up with was that he had a pocket dimension only he could access inside his body.

Who was the cat? 

It didn’t take long for Ben to drift asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feedback is very much appreciated! (Props to anyone who noticed the Goose cameo!)


	6. Far Too Young To Die

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> His name was Ben.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up this chapter has some torture-ish themes and heavy angst/whump for our dear Ben. You have been warned. (Also this isn't a marvel cross over or anything I just added Goose because I felt the eldritch thing needed something easier to describe and Goose is fun!)

It was dark when Ben woke up. The clock said 7:13, he fell asleep around 2. Great, he hoped he would get enough sleep tonight. 

Ben stood at his door for a few minutes deciding to open it or not. He really wanted to talk to someone but he didn’t think anyone would believe him about what happened during the heist. Ben could talk to Klaus. Klaus was going through withdrawal even though his 13 year old body hadn’t gotten any hard drugs, he shouldn’t bother Klaus. Maybe Five? No Five wouldn’t believe him. Ben settled on Vanya.

He made his way quietly to Vanya’s room where he gently tapped on her door until she let him in. Ben sat on her bed twiddling his thumbs. Ben used to do this before he died. Vanya was easy to talk to… they used to be close.

“I um,” Ben thought of an excuse to talk to Vanya, “I was wondering if you had any time to practice your powers.” 

“Not yet,” Vanya said sitting next to Ben, “I’m still slowly getting off the pills.” 

“You were beautiful,” Ben said quietly and noticed Vanya’s surprised expression, “Your recital. You just looked so happy. I didn’t see much because they put Klaus on guard duty but I saw some.” 

“Thanks,” Vanya said with a smile, “I lost control- the music just does that to me.” 

“I get it,” Ben was sympathetic because he understood, “I’ve lost control a lot. It’s scary.” 

“I guess we should work on that huh?” Vanya said with a chuckle, “You know… it’s like we switched places with Luther and Diego. We’re the most powerful.” Ben never thought of himself as powerful, he always thought he was number six for a reason.

“With great power comes great responsibility,” Ben said mimicking his Father’s voice, “I have to ask you something else.” Vanya didn’t say anything but nodded.

“Well,” Ben started getting ready for a whole explanation, “I did something stupid. I um, I threatened to kill Father,” Maybe Ben shouldn’t have told her yet. 

“You did?!” Vanya gasped, “Sorry I’m a little shocked to hear that from you of all people.”

“Yeah,” Ben could laugh. Out of all his siblings he never thought he would be the first to rebel, “I got so angry and especially with Klaus and the mausoleum. I had to do something. I think he was shocked too. I think he might-” 

“Punish you?” Vanya guessed, “Your training is tomorrow…” 

“I lied about that.” Ben said quickly, “I remember everything and he will definitely hurt me tomorrow. Don’t tell anyone else please.” 

“Why?” Vanya asked staring at Ben. 

“They need to focus on themselves,” Ben sounded sadder than intended, “I just wanted to tell you in case anything happens. I won’t die easily. Just if I don’t come back I want you to do something. It’s a lot to ask but I want you to protect everyone, especially Klaus,” 

“I can’t-” Vanya said with tears in the corner of her eyes. Ben didn’t want Vanya to cry.

“You are so strong Vanya,” Ben said softly, “Being strong is scary but protecting people you care about is worth it.” Ben spoke from experience. 

Vanya hugged Ben. He stayed in her room until she fell asleep. They didn’t talk much but still enjoyed each other’s company. Ben decided to not tell her about the mission, that could wait. He slipped out of her room and back into his own as she fell asleep. Ben didn’t realize how much he missed Vanya.

\----

The morning went by quick. Ben ate a little for breakfast than he did usually. Their studies went by quickly. Ben had a sense of dread and anxiety but studying world history seemed to distract him enough. 

Lunch was fine. Vanya nudged his leg with her foot when she didn’t see him eat. Ben let himself enjoy what little time he had left. His training was next. 

Everyone was excused except for Ben. Ben had glared into the back of his Father’s head as he was led downstairs. His special training was usually set in the basement where no one would hear him scream. It was a walk of shame to the elevator. 

Father led him to the room where he would unleash his powers. It was a glass room inside a bigger room. Father would watch from outside as he encouraged Ben to control himself. The glass room was more like a torture device. The ground emitted electric shocks when Ben didn’t follow orders or had to be controlled. Sometimes Father would lock him inside with limited air or torture machines designed to hurt him. Ben sometimes thought that his Father did this out of pure enjoyment.

Ben was locked in the glass room once again. He was cold, he had to take his shirt off during training so it wouldn’t get ripped. He waited for orders that Ben planned not to follow. 

“Release them.” His Father’s order was clear. Ben didn’t do anything, he refused to do this. “Release them now Number Six.” Ben would not.

He saw his Father’s look of disapproval as he touched a button. A shock traveled through Ben’s body as he fell to the floor with a grunt. Ben stood up again. He was determined to not let his father win.

“Control them Number Six,” His name was Ben, “Release them.” Ben stared at his Father with dark eyes. He refused to give Father the satisfaction. 

Another shock rippled throughout Ben’s body. He would be sore tomorrow but he still got up. “You will listen Number Six and you will obey my commands.” His name was Ben. 

Ben fell again as another shock coursed through his body, the voltage was higher and it left Ben unable to move for a few seconds. Despite his common sense Ben shakily got up and stared his Father in the eyes. He couldn’t help but smile at his Father’s frustration. 

“M-my name is Ben.” Ben said with a shiver. The adrenaline would wear off quickly. 

“If you will not cooperate willingly then you will be forced,” Father said. Ben had a very bad feeling as his Father pushed another Button and a noise entered the glass room. There was a voice in his head telling Ben to let them out but Ben didn’t listen.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a robot. It wasn’t like Grace. It was cold and actually robotic. It had one simple command and Ben had many nightmares about it. 

The robot held thick wires in a metal claw. Ben waited for it to strike him, he would not cower like he did when he was young. 

*CRACK* It hit him hard. Ben felt a burning pain on his side. He didn’t miss this feeling but he still wouldn’t let them out. 

A second later and Ben heard *CRACK* he cried out. He struck in the back. He looked up to see his Father’s face which was full with anger or disappointment. The voice in his head edged him to release the tentacles but he refused. 

Another *CRACK* his shoulder blade was hit. At this point the voice in his head was begging him to release the tentacles. If Ben let them out then his Father would win. Ben refused again.

Ben lost count of how many times he was hit. It had felt like an eternity had passed. Ben could only feel pain and only hear the sound of the wire whip hitting his flesh. Ben was proud that he didn’t give in to his Father, he would never obey that man again. 

His name was Ben. His name was Ben.

His Father left him bleeding, barely breathing on the floor of the glass room. His wounds would go untreated. Father refused to let Grace or Pogo down to help him. Ben didn’t realize when he fell unconscious but he knew he would stay the night down here. All he could think was his name. 

Ben was alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading, feedback is very appreciated. Also check out long time no see by westernapparel (It was inspired by last chapter and I loveee it so much)


	7. Little Lion Man

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The children, Vanya specifically, wonder where Ben went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have written the final chapter! In total there will be 10 chapters but I also plan on writing a sequel.

Vanya woke up with a tired feeling. She sluggishly got dressed and combed her hair. Outside her room Klaus was running around the halls looking for something. Five was in his own room working on whatever equation he was on. Diego was mid argument with Luther- again. Allison was also finishing getting dressed to the image of perfection. 

Vanya didn’t hear Ben.

Vanya took her pills as she felt her anxiety swell up. Vanya was slowly getting off her pills but she couldn’t break the habit of taking them with her anxiety, not that the pills would help. She was also terrified of accidentally hurting someone.

She heard Mom’s voice echo in the halls. It was time for breakfast. Vanya was almost late. Not as late as Klaus who skidded to a halt as he nearly crashed into Diego. Everyone was here, everyone except Ben. 

“Mom,” Vanya asked her Mom quietly before Father walked in, “Where’s Ben?” Mom gave her a smile but didn’t answer. This was bad.

Their Father walked in with a smug look and order the children to be seated as they started their food. They ate in a usual silence. There was a noticeably missing spot, Vanya noticed her siblings eye’s wander to where Ben should be. Their meal was almost over when Klaus spoke up asking the same question Vanya did, “Where’s Ben?” 

“Exhausted from training,” Father answered coldly, “Do not interrupt this valuable philosophy.” Yes the philosophy lessons that everyone droned out.

Klaus sneered then returned to his food. Breakfast finished up quickly and they were dismissed. They were lucky today, they only had to wait two hours and then they would be alone. Father had a meeting with someone important, probably a government official, he and Pogo would be gone for exactly three hours.

\----

Vanya watched the car pull out of the driveway. They were free. They only had three hours to find Ben. Luther had called a family meeting. He ordered Five to teleport into Ben’s room because the door had been locked. Five reappeared after a few seconds, Ben wasn’t there. 

“There’s only so many places he could be.” Allison said as she counted the places their Father could hide their brother away in her head.

“We only have three hours to find him.” Luther said with a sigh. 

“W-w-where d-do we look?” Diego stuttered, Vanya knew he tried to hide it but Diego couldn’t. 

“Maybe he’s in the mausoleum,” Klaus said sarcastically as Allison shot him a glare, “I mean he used to wander off from time to time as a ghost. Maybe he’s just wandering…” 

“He’s not,” Vanya said quickly as the room stared at her, “He told me he did something that angered Father.” Vanya could tell by her siblings faces that they knew what that could mean.

“D-do you t-think Father,” Diego stopped as he struggled with the next word, “P-pu-p-p-”

“Punished him?” Five cut in impatiently. Vanya nodded, she didn’t want to say it. 

“Let’s look,” Luther said ready to give the next orders. Vanya and Allison would search the roof and attic. Five searched the extra bedrooms. Klaus and Diego searched the 2nd and 3rd floors. Luther had the first and Diego had the layer of the basement they had access to. 

About an hour and twenty three minutes of nervous searching and the kids had come up with nothing. They met back up in the living room with nothing to show for their efforts and Vanya wanted to cry. It was such a large house, maybe they forgot some place?

“What about the basement?” Five asked loudly. 

“Nothing.” Diego said as he sat on the couch with a huff. 

“No Diego,” Five sneered, “The basement we wouldn’t know about.”

“Yeah the one where Luther locked Vanya up.” Allison said with a tinge of passive aggressive spite. 

“How would we even get down there?” Klaus asked sadly, “Dearest Dad doesn’t know we know what's down there and if he finds out? We are fucked!” 

“Klaus is right,” Five said scratching his head, “If we get down there we need to stop the cameras or put them on a loop.”

“We split up?” Vanya asked in her normal quiet tone. 

Five nodded, “Allison and I will stay up here.” Five explained his already made plan, “I can hack the cameras easily and if Dad comes back early I can teleport down and warn you all, Allison can rumor him and Pogo if need be.” 

“The rest of us just go down and find him?” Luther guessed. He was right that was the plan. 

With the plan set Allison and Five went into the camera room, ready to hack the cameras. Luther found and opened the elevator followed by Diego, Klaus and Vanya. Klaus was the first to notice the floors were numbered, there were 7 hidden layers of basement. The seventh was where Luther had locked up Vanya. Diego pressed the button for the sixth floor and they started to descended. The descent took so long...

The doors opened to a dimly lit large room. Once the siblings stepped out of the elevator, the lights grew brighter and they could see better. There was a smaller glass room inside. No sign of Ben. 

Klaus walked up to the glass room while Luther and Diego searched a few desks. Vanya started to follow Klaus. 

“Oh no.” Klaus said with a hand on glass. His face drained of any color.

“Klaus?” Vanya stopped as soon as she saw what Klaus saw, “Fuck…” 

It was Ben. Gentle little Ben. He was on his side, his arms covered his torso protectively, he was laying on a blood stained floor. There were fresh wounds on his back. Vanya almost didn’t notice all the scars on his body. 

“Ben!” Klaus called pounding on the glass but he went unanswered. Diego and Luther had ran over. Vanya stayed still. She was scared. She didn't want him to be dead again.

“I-i-is-is h-h-” Diego was choking on his words. 

“No no no…” Luther started using his strength to pound on the door. This wasn't helping.

“Look!” Vanya called out grabbing Diego’s arm, “He’s breathing! He’s alive!” Ben’s chest had been slowly rising and deflating. 

“I can’t!” Luther yelled, “I can’t break through!” Luther was crying, Luther didn’t cry.

“Maybe…” Klaus trailed off before returning to his sentence, “Maybe that’s a good thing.”

“W-wh-what?” Diego stared dumbfounded. 

“Ben,” Klaus kept his eyes on Ben, “If Dad finds out we were here? He would hurt Ben more! I mean we can’t get him out, Ben just has to hold out a bit more.” 

“Vanya?” Vanya was surprised to hear her name from Luther of all people, “Can you use your powers and break it?” She shook her head no, she had taken her pills, “Do you think Ben’s strong enough to last Klaus? I mean... will he be okay?”

“Yes.” Klaus said next to a trembling Diego. Klaus sounded confident in Ben. 

“W-we-we ca-c-can-can’t-” Diego couldn’t form words. 

“We can’t get in,” Luther said sadly, “If he’s not out by tomorrow we get him. We don’t have much time left, Dad will be back soon.”

"Luther's right Diego," Klaus's hands were still on the glass, "If Dad finds us here what do you think would happen? He'd hurt us all then we couldn't help Ben." Vanya didn't expect Klaus to be the one to say that but he was right.

They all agreed and slowly left the room with a last glance at Klaus. They returned to the elevator in silence. Once upstairs they reported to Allison and Five. Five suggested he go get Ben but their Father was almost home. They didn’t have enough time.

\----

Vanya was in her room. She was waiting- no she was listening. Seeing Ben like that reminded her of his death. They were only 17 when it happened.

_It was a nice day out, the kids only got to see some of it though. Vanya remembered the ringing of the alarm then another bank robbery. Another mission she would not be on._

_Vanya remembered the birds sounded lovely, her mother watched the birds from the kitchen window. Vanya always thought her mom was like a caged canary… just like herself._

_Vanya didn’t get to go on this mission. She was ordered to stay home. She didn’t want to go much anyway. The times where she and Mother were alone, it was a precious time. Once in a while they would bake cookies together or watch the birds. Today they listened to the news… hopefully Vanya could watch her sibling’s interview._

_She didn’t know what happened in the bank but she was the first to know. She was the first to hear Mother’s tea cup drop and spill on the wooden floor._

_She didn’t know that the rest of her siblings were waiting for Ben to come out of the upstairs vault. She didn’t know that they decided to leave him because he was taking too long. She didn’t know that no one checked on him._

_She was the first to know he was dead. A news woman reported that the police found the body of a dead Asian boy with his intestines coming out of his stomach._

_At first they thought he was an unfortunate civilian then they found a domino mask in his pocket. He didn’t want to wear it when he died. He died alone._

_She was the first to mourn and cry over her dead brother, she was the last to see him alive, the last to talk to him._

_It didn’t occur to Vanya, until she wrote her book, that maybe Ben died on purpose. She didn’t want his death to become a theorized event but she couldn’t help but wonder if he killed everyone in that vault then command his power to kill himself._

_Vanya didn’t know he was losing control of his power in the end. Maybe he wanted to die… maybe that's why he was alone. Maybe that's why he died with a small smile._

Vanya stayed up waiting until she heard movements in the hallway. Vanya cracked open her door and peeked. It was Mom. Mom was carrying Ben in her arms. He was safe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope I did good! *feedback is always appreciated* Vanya is my second favorite character and man do I love Ellen Page.


	8. Obstacles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some healing time for poor little Ben... and what will his family do next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'know I find Luther soooo annoying some times but I feel for the dude because he was abused too, so he got some character development last chapter and a little more to come. When Ben is not the POV, assume it's Vanya.

The light was peeking out from the crack in between his curtains. It was morning. He didn’t think he could see the morning sun from the glass room. 

Wait he wasn’t in the glass room. There was a softness under his head. 

His head ached. His body ached more. 

Ben was in his room. He tried sitting up but moving really hurt. Ben couldn’t really feel his back either. He didn’t even notice that he had an IV in his arm until he saw it. Despite how much he criticized Klaus for being stupid, Ben acted really stupid. 

The last things he remembered flashed through his eyes. At least Ben got a small victory. At least Ben was able to stand against his Father. This was fine. 

Ben couldn’t even reach a book. 

\----

Vanya was awake before the alarm. She woke up when she heard movements in Ben’s room. Once she was dressed she quietly moved into the hallway. Coincidentally, she saw Klaus on the other side of the hallway do the same. 

She waved at him. He waved back. They had the same idea.

They met each other at Ben’s door and it was locked. Klaus and Vanya ran to find Five who quickly teleported himself inside and unlocked the door. 

Ben hadn’t noticed them, he seemed to be fixated on reaching a book on his night stand that he couldn’t quite reach. Klaus walked over as Five quietly shut the door. Klaus handed Ben the book and sat on the side of his bed. Five pulled over Ben’s desk chair and Vanya sat on the nightstand. 

“How are you feeling Benny?” Klaus spoke in a surprisingly sincere voice. The first time they were 13, Klaus didn’t hang around Ben too much. After Ben’s death they must have gotten closer.

It was odd watching Klaus be so nice to Ben. It used to be Klaus and one of the lower numbers while Vanya, Ben and Five stayed together.

“Head hurts,” Ben’s voice was hoarse, “Can’t read.” His voice was also uncharacteristically grumpy. 

“Give it to me,” Five said sternly, almost if he was trying to hide the sadness that Vanya had noticed. Ben weakly tried to throw the book at Five. It hit the floor. Ben grumbled something under his breath. 

“Story time!” Klaus squealed as happily as he could. Klaus carefully moved to Ben’s other side and laid down next to Ben. Ever since they came back Klaus wanted to hug Ben every chance he got, after all you can’t touch ghosts. Vanya moved to take Klaus’ spot, she held his one hand, and Five scooted his chair closer. 

It took 10 minutes of reading for Ben to fall asleep, he must have been exhausted. A few minutes after that they were called to breakfast and they left Ben to sleep.

\----

Ben woke up to see his whole family quietly talking, his siblings were sitting in his room. He felt Klaus next to him and someone, maybe Allison, was holding his hand. Ben quickly shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep. 

“He looks so weak.” Ben recognized that voice as Allison’s. They were talking about him. 

“He looked weaker when we found him.” Klaus’s voice rumpled from beside him. 

“W-we need to d-do something,” Diego’s voice was always angry, “They hurt him!” 

“How can we do something when we don’t even know what happened?” Ben could tell how Five was trying to think, Five always looked for an explanation or something to theorize about.

“We’re in danger here.” Vanya’s voice came from the foot of his bed. She was right, they were all in danger, even Luther was in danger. 

“We still don’t know what happened,” Five paused and sighed, “I’d like to know before we do something that would put us more in danger.” 

Five and everyone else kept going in circles. Once everything had at least been said twice, Ben decided it was time to let his presence be known.

“You could just... ask.” Ben said quietly staring at the ceiling. He felt eyes on him. 

“What happened Ben?” Allison’s voice broke the silence. 

“I lied,” Ben wanted to curl into a ball but it hurt to move so he just kept his eyes on the ceiling, “I remembered my training. Didn’t want to though,” Ben didn’t want to go into detail and he knew for a fact he was not going to tell them about how he could have saved himself the pain, “Dad hurt me…” 

“Ben…” Vanya quietly started then cleared her voice, “You had scars… they weren’t from your last training session.” When did they see his scars? He hated when people saw his body… especially because of those scars.

“Yeah,” Ben felt Klaus squeeze his arm, “I got hurt a lot.” His siblings wanted an explanation, “When I couldn’t force Them out he hurt me. When I couldn’t pull them back… he hurt Them and then They would be angry afterwards.” Ben left out some details, he didn’t want to upset his siblings more. 

Ben could have gone on longer and in fuller detail. He left out the time he was 6 and Father didn’t understand quite how his powers worked. Long story short- Ben was cut open and then he knew that the tentacles came from a portal inside his skin.

“I’ve never seen you in that much pain Ben,” Five knew Ben was leaving out details, “Something happened, didn’t it?” Damn, Five knew Ben too well. 

“Mhmm,” Ben didn’t want to tell them. He still faced the ceiling, “I was in control. They didn’t mind coming out but I didn’t let them.” 

“Why?!” Allison asked her hand squeezing Ben’s. Ben could image the worry on her face- no he didn’t want to see it.

Ben shrugged. He already told his siblings too much. There was another moment of silence, everyone was just processing everything. Ben didn’t want to talk about it anymore. If only he were a ghost… then he could just leave.

“We need to leave.” The voice was new. Ben didn’t realize Luther had even been in the room. Everyone else seemed surprised to hear this from Luther of all people. “We need to run away, we aren’t safe.”

“Wh-where would we go?” Diego asked wondering if they could even leave the house without getting caught.

“Anywhere is better than here.” Klaus said from next to Ben. He was right anywhere would be fine. Just not here. 

“The farther the better.” Allison said with a sense of hopefulness, her emotions always shown through her voice. 

“Mom?” Diego would be the one to ask, he was closest to her. 

“She can’t come Diego,” Five was stern and almost heartless, “We can go back for her when Ben is safe.”

There was a moment of silence but they knew that Five was right. Mom would want them to be safe first. 

“So let’s plan.” Luther said like the leader Ben almost thought he could be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huh I just realized I never put the song title and artist in the notes so I will have a list for the final chapter in the end notes! Thank you all for reading and please give me some feedback! <3


	9. Stay Alive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The kids escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #LetBenSleep... Also once this fic is done I have another Ben one shot I will post (then the sequel will be posted!)

It was a simple plan. The kids one by one would leave the house in the night. They decided that leaving together would be too risky and if one of them was caught, at least the others would make it. 

Between the seven of them, they had three backpacks and Vanya’s violin case. They only took what they needed. 

Diego carried a backpack with a quite a few knives, a first aid kit, a few water bottles and the Swiss army pocket knife he got when he was 10. Allison took the next backpack, she packed as much canned food as she could sneak and she snuck two stuffed animals, one was Ben’s. Vanya took the final backpack, Klaus offered to take it but no one trusted him too much so he offered to carry Vanya’s violin case. Vanya packed her pills, a blanket and a spare tool kit she found in the attic. 

Between all seven of them they had 367$, Allison had hidden money she had saved up and Klaus was able to steal 100$ from their Father, the rest of the money was scraps from the other siblings. 

\----

They waited till night to slowly trickle out of the house. They decided they would meet at Griddy’s Donuts and then find their way to a motel to stay the night. 

Diego left first. He got out of the house easily using the fire escape. Vanya went next, she followed Diego’s route. About 32 minutes later and Klaus walked out the front door, he surprisingly went unseen. Luther carried Ben, who said he could walk but collapsed when he tried to stand, as Five teleported them a block away from the house. A few minutes later and Allison was the last to leave, she also took Diego’s route. 

Five couldn’t jump too far yet, he was still exhausted from his big time jump. So they walked, Luther carried Ben while Five walked slightly ahead of them. Ben wasn’t too happy about having to be carried but Luther held on to him tight. 

They got to Griddy’s about the same time as Allison who ran all the way from the mansion. The rest of the siblings were waiting for them in a booth seat. Five, Allison and Vanya all went to order a well earned donut and a black coffee. 

Luther set Ben down next to Klaus and Klaus let Ben use him as a pillow. Diego was anxiously awaiting for the donuts. Once the donuts were got they decided to discuss their plans quietly. 

“How long till Dad comes looking for us?” Vanya wondered, surely it wouldn’t take long for Father to realize they were gone. 

“Morning probably,” Five said sipping his coffee, “We need to get away before he comes looking. We need to be out of this city as soon as we can.”

“We can’t just leave,” Allison said with an eye roll, “I mean look at us! We don’t have any normal clothing, we need more of a plan.”

“Shopping!” Klaus said sitting up excitedly as Ben hissed at Klaus for moving, “Let’s go shopping!” Klaus settled back down and let Ben relax again. Klaus even put his arm around Ben’s shoulder trying to make him as comfortable as possible. 

“With what money Klaus?” Luther asked with a sigh and a cold stare. 

“W-we can r-rumor-” Despite Diego’s stutter improving he was cut off by Allison. 

“No.” She was still adamant about not using it. 

“Allison,” Five took another sip of his coffee, “We need your power. It’s the only way we will be able to get away.”

“Don’t we have money?” Allison asked frowning at Five. 

“Not enough,” Luther said quietly, “Five’s right, we need to use your rumors if we want to leave.” 

“We can just take what we need,” Vanya suggested with a small smile towards Allison, “Nothing too fancy… just different clothes and some food.” 

“Yeah and maybe a car.” Klaus said with a snort. Ben did not want to be in a car if Klaus was going to drive.

“Can anyone drive?” Vanya asked her siblings. Vanya never really needed to drive, she worked from home and took buses. 

“Technically speaking yes,” Five said with a smirk, “We just need to steal a car.” Five stole a few cars in the last time line but no one knew where he learned to drive… all the cars were wrecked in the apocalypse, or at least that’s what Five said when Klaus asked.

“Sleep,” Ben muttered quietly, “Do shit in the morning.” He was right, it was getting late, almost midnight and they were all tired. Ben was exhausted… his body was still so sore.

“Let’s just call a cab and get to some motel,” Luther grumbled, “We can decide what to do after that.” 

\----

7 children filing into a cab was difficult to say the least, they were all pretty small still but being squished together really sucked. 

At least the driver didn’t question them as he took them to the motel. The driver didn’t ask any questions either, even if he probably should have. Maybe he sympathized with them… maybe he just did his job.

Allison happily paid him for his service and with the hope he wouldn’t give them away. 

Allison was also the one to get the rooms. She rumored the man at the desk. She only asked for one room- she didn’t want to abuse her power. Klaus whispered that they would have got the room for free because of how high this guy seemed. 

They only needed the room for one night. Two nights would be risking it too much. Once they were in the room Ben almost immediately fell asleep on one of the beds, no one could blame him. They were all tired and exhausted. 

Too tired and exhausted to notice Ben’s skin ripple, Vanya thought she saw something but dismissed it quickly and blamed her own exhaustion.

The motel room was small, especially for all 7 of them. It might have been small but it would work better than any mansion. 

Vanya and Allison shared the other and Klaus climbed in next to Ben, who was fast asleep. Five grumbled something and claimed the sofa. Diego attempted to fit in with Klaus and Ben but eventually ended on the floor sometime in the middle of the night. Luther stole a pillow from Klaus and slept on the floor. 

It was an uncomfortable sleep for some but also one of the safest for them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy this last nice chapter before everything goes to angsty shit ;)


	10. I Think We’re Alone Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens in the last chapter? Find out today!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a little long! Also here are the songs I used to title my chapters:  
> 1: Time in a Tree - Raleigh Ritchie  
> 2: The Kids Aren’t Alright - Fall Out Boy  
> 3: Warrior - Chloe x Halle  
> 4: What’s Up Danger - Blackway & Black Caviar  
> 5: Conqueror - Aurora  
> 6: Far Too Young To Die - Panic at the Disco  
> 7: Little Lion Man - Mumford & Sons  
> 8: Obstacles - Syd Matters  
> 9: Stay Alive - Jose Gonzalez  
> 10: I Think We’re Alone Now - Tiffany

Ben dreamt of the same landscape. He didn’t see an orange tabby cat around. Instead he saw brightly colored neon birds in the sky. He saw the same fluorescent silver fish in the reflecting water. The same shining mountains.

The air was clean and freeing. Ben could have stayed here forever, it was so nice and calm. He felt at peace.

“You balance on the edge of life and death recklessly dear boy.” Ben turned around to see the ginger cat watching the silver fish from a lily-pad. “You must remember how to live or how will you get strong? We will not hold back to benefit your weakness." 

Upon hearing this warning, the world began to spin and spin. The dream landscape faded and blurred. 

\----

Ben blinked and saw the sunlight peeking from foreign windows. Ben remembered where he was, a motel room. 

Shouldn’t he be with his family? There was no one else in the room... just as Ben sat up Luther came waltzing through the door with two water bottles in hand. 

“Good to see you awake Ben,” Luther was never good at hiding his emotions, Ben could tell he was worried, “Here!” Luther threw a water bottle that Ben barely caught, “Feeling better?” 

“A little…” Ben took a sip of water, “Where is everyone?” 

“Allison, Vanya and Klaus went shopping for food and clothes,” Luther sat on the other bed, “Diego and Five went to figure out our car situation. That leaves me to watch you.” Fantastic.

“I don’t need a babysitter.” Ben mumbled. 

“Yeah well you look like shit,” Luther had the dumb smirk on his face when he thought he was right, “Have you seen your nose?” Ben touched his nose and felt blood- he knew what blood felt like, “It started bleeding in your sleep. Also you’re still very hurt.” 

“I hope it doesn’t get infected,” Ben had a scowl on his face. He didn't want to think about the pain.

“It shouldn’t,” Luther scratched the top of his head, “While you were sleeping I changed the bandages and apparently Mom gave Diego some medical supplies for you.” 

“She must have known we were leaving.” Leaving their Mother made Ben feel worse now that he knew that she figured out their plans to leave. 

“Well…” Luther filled the silence, “Want me to read to you?” Luther took one of Ben’s book from his coat pocket. Ben nodded and Luther started to read as they waited for the rest of the children to return. 

\----

Allison, Vanya and Klaus returned first. Klaus threw a black hoodie at Ben. It was just like the one he wore as a ghost, it was also very soft. Ben also got a pair of jeans, converse and a dark blue tee shirt for under his hoodie. 

Klaus came back with a maroon skirt, he pulled it off well, and an old green button up that almost looked like something a veteran would wear. 

Vanya got a flannel and jeans- nothing too complex but Klaus grabbed her a beanie because he thought it would go with her grunge aesthetic. 

Allison was able to get a very nice dress with leggings, a leather jacket and flats. She bought Luther a shirt, cargo pants and a green coat.

They got Diego a grey long sleeve shirt and black sweatpants. They got Five a black tux, they really didn’t know what to buy him. 

An hour or so later Diego strolled in. They all gathered around the window and saw Five sitting on top of a small camper waving at them. Diego wouldn’t tell them where they got it but he claimed its safety. They happily trusted Diego with the chance to get out of the city. 

\----

They had been traveling for 6 hours on side roads. They traveled more quiet roads, passing through the countryside. Luther had been driving with Five shotgun giving directions. Klaus, Vanya and Ben were in the back and giggling on the big bed. Allison watched them from the couch while she looked at a magazine sitting next to Diego who was sharpening a knife. 

It was getting dark out and the only buildings around were a burnt down barn. Luther pulled off to the side of the road near the cover of trees. 

“I think we’re far enough for the night.” Luther said followed by a yawn as he climbed out of his seat. 

“L-lets turn the couch into a b-bed.” Diego said standing and putting his knife away. Allison stood to help him. 

Five teleported himself to the small bed loft on top of the driver’s seat and shotgun, “Dibs.” Five smirked as he watched the two make the couch bed. 

“I assume I get the nice bed?” Ben called from the back of the camper. Luther sighed and nodded. 

“I’ll share tonight!” Klaus offered with a large smile. Not that anyone thought he wasn’t going to sleep next to Ben anyway.

“Can I sleep here too?” Vanya asked quietly. 

“Of course!” Klaus said pulling Vanya into a hug. Her and Allison would not fit on the couch-bed together.

Once the couch bed was pulled out Diego climbed up into the loft against Five’s wishes. He didn’t want to sleep on the floor with Luther. Allison took the couch bed happily but offered to switch with Luther tomorrow. 

Despite the giggles and the wild animals outside the camper, everyone had a decent amount of sleep. Everything seemed peaceful.

\----

Ben woke up to muffled sounds outside the camper. The first thing he noticed was that Klaus was gone from his place next to Ben, the second thing he noticed was the soreness on his back. 

Ben turned to his other side and met Vanya. She looked alarmed, now Ben had a reason to worry. Vanya opened the blinds of the bedroom window a crack so that she and Ben could see. 

There was a group of strangers- they could only see around 6 strangers with hidden faces. They carried guns and knives. Klaus, Allison and Luther were being surrounded. This was not good.

“Ben!” Ben was startled by his name, Diego had hissed it from the small hallway of the camper, “Vanya! Stay hidden and don’t come out!” Diego didn’t even give Ben or Vanya a chance to answer before kicking open the door with a handful of knives. 

Vanya and Ben hid in between the camper wall and the bed. They stayed quiet and listened, too afraid to check the window.

They heard shouts. They heard a few gunshots. They heard threats. 

Then they heard their siblings yell for Five. Something happened to Five. 

Ben slowly moved from his hiding place and checked the window. He saw Five unconscious on the ground. 

He saw Diego trying to break free from the arms of one of the armed strangers as they tried to wrap ropes around his wrists.

He saw Klaus try to fight back from his own bindings but 13 year old Klaus wasn’t very strong. 

He saw Allison crying as another man held a gun to Luther’s head. Allison said something Ben couldn’t comprehend and she was starting to get bound. 

Luther was strong. Luther tried to fight back but eventually he was knocked out as well. Ben grimaced when Luther’s body hit the ground.

“Vanya…” Ben’s voice was a quiet tremble, “Did you take your pills today?” 

Vanya stared at him with wide eyes and nodded. Maybe it was best Vanya didn't use her power until she could control it better...

“Stay here,” Ben leaned in front of Vanya and held her hand, “Don’t come out until they leave, please. Promise me you’ll stay here.” Vanya nodded as a tear rushed down her cheek. Ben wiped her tear then stood and slowly walked towards the camper door.

Ben was okay at being stealthy but it was more of a skill that Diego excelled at, Ben was just more unnoticeable. If he stealthed around and maybe Klaus and Diego could keep shouting and trying to escape, maybe they had a chance. 

Ben decided to climb out the camper by going through the driver's seat. No one noticed yet. 

He held his breath as he carefully moved around the camper. He wasn’t noticed yet. 

He saw his family being tied up, squirming helplessly on the ground. He had to protect them. 

Ben was alone. No... he was small and weak, maybe even fragile but he wasn’t alone anymore.

Ben stepped out from his hiding place and let Them out. He begged Them to protect his family. 

Maybe it was futile but he wouldn’t let these kidnappers leave without spilling blood. He would protect his family. 

It was a rush of noise. 

A rush of pain. A rush of everything. Despite Ben’s best efforts there was no way he could fight this. He still tried. He wiped the blood dripping from his lip. 

Ben didn’t know that he was bleeding until the tentacles retreated. He thought his dizziness was a result of his powers. 

Ben didn’t hear his siblings scream his name, he could only hear gunfire. It was so noisy, so loud.

Ben didn’t understand why he couldn’t fight back until he started coughing up blood. The gunfire had stopped at least. 

Ben looked up. The light was blinding but behind that light was the faces of the people he wanted to protect… and the laughing faces of those that just killed him. 

Ben heard his name being screamed. His name was Ben, he almost forgot. Ben looked down at himself. His chest.

He saw a pool of blood dripping down. Ben remembered what it was like to be shot.

His legs gave out and he fell. He fell and fell and fell. 

\----

His hit the ground of a familiar landscape. The same path he had been on a few days ago. Ben must have died... again.

“You die a lot huh?” Ben looked towards the sound of the voice and there was God standing with a bouquet of pretty little flowers. 

“Send me back.” Ben demanded. God looked surprised then quickly shifted her focus back to the flowers. 

“You want to live?” Ben swore he saw God smile. 

“Yes.” Ben wanted to be alive, for the first time in his life, Ben wanted to be alive more than anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for reading, this was really fun to write. There will be a sequel called The Kid's Are Alright, I'm thinking of posting it a week from now or maybe Sunday? It will focus more on Ben and Vanya, with similar themes to Life is Strange 2 but also heavy angst. So please keep an eye out for that and again, thank you for reading. Feedback is very appreciated.

**Author's Note:**

> Feedback is much appreciated! (Check out my other Ben fanfic - Horror's Reprise)


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